News Brief

Arizona Adopts Native American Language Teacher Certification Policy

The Arizona Department of Education and Native American tribes helped create a recently adopted policy to enable certified Native language speakers to teach their Native languages in Arizona classrooms. The Native American Language Certification Policy already is being used by the Navajo Nation, and other Native American tribes are developing proficiency assessments to take part in the initiative. The assessments will ensure teachers are proficient in their Native language to teach it in Arizona classrooms and allow elders and other non-degreed language experts to teach those languages to students. State Superintendent of Public Instruction John Huppenthal says, "These Native American languages are in danger of becoming extinct. It is imperative that we work to support Native American communities in their efforts to preserve their languages through the generations."